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<\/p>\nFlorida\u2019s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week that the former owner of a dog that the Highway Patrol saved as Hurricane Milton hit land has been caught and will be charged with cruelty to animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had somebody decide, as Hurricane Milton approached, that it would somehow be a good thing to take his dog and chain it to a post on the interstate,\u201d DeSantis said during a press conference at the Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n
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Orlando Morales, an officer with the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), filmed the dog standing in a pool of water because it couldn\u2019t get away from the fence as Milton made his way to land.<\/p>\n
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DeSantis said the dog\u2019s new name was \u201cTrooper\u201d and that he was now in Tallahassee, where he will be adopted. The governor said that what the past owners did was \u201ccompletely unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that the dog\u2019s former owner had been found and that State Attorney Suzy Lopez would be in charge of the case.<\/p>\n
According to a news statement from Lopez\u2019s office, the dog\u2019s owner is Giovanny Garcia. Garcia was charged with aggravated animal cruelty after admitting that he left his dog on Interstate 75 while he was leaving Milton. Garcia told the police that he left his dog, which used to be called Jumbo, because he couldn\u2019t find anyone to take it.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe said you\u2019d be held accountable, and you will be held accountable,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n
The story about Trooper made national headlines, leaving pet fans and people who fight for animal rights worried.<\/p>\n
After the FHP saved the dog, the Leon County Human Society later reported that the dog was safe at their facility.<\/p>\n
Last week, DeSantis lashed out at Vice President Kamala Harris this week after she criticized his handling of hurricanes Helene and Milton while also claiming he refused to take her phone call.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, DeSantis spoke to CNBC\u2019s Andrew Ross Sorkin about the situation, during which he ripped Harris for what he perceived as a blatant attempt to politicize the storms and boost her campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even know she was trying to reach me, but she has no role in this process, and I\u2019ve been dealing with these storms in Florida under both Trump and Biden. Neither of them ever politicized it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd, in fact, all the storms I\u2019ve dealt with under this administration \u2013 although I\u2019ve worked well with [President Biden] \u2013 she has never called in Florida. She has never offered any support.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what she\u2019s doing is she\u2019s trying to inject herself into this because of her political campaign,\u201d he continued, noting he\u2019s busy trying to save lives. \u201cI don\u2019t have time for those games.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m in contact with the president of the United States. I\u2019m in contact with the FEMA director, I\u2019m obviously managing all of our state agencies, we\u2019re supporting all our local government,\u201d DeSantis earlier told a news conference.<\/p>\n
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\n\u201cShe\u2019s the first one who\u2019s trying to politicize the storm, and she\u2019s doing that just because of her campaign. I don\u2019t have time for political games. I\u2019ve got people whose lives are on the line, I\u2019ve got people whose homes and possessions are on the line, and we are focused 100% on that mission,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Biden threw his vice president under a bus \u2014 figuratively speaking \u2014 during a press conference on Thursday as Hurricane Milton bore down on Florida, the second major storm in as many weeks after Harris was critical of DeSantis. Biden praised the Republican leader and said he was doing a \u201cgreat job\u201d preparing for Milton.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor of Florida has been cooperative. He said he\u2019s gotten all that he needs. I talked to him again yesterday and I said, \u2018No, you\u2019re doing a great job. It\u2019s being, all being done well. We thank you for it,\u2019\u201d said Biden.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery governor, every governor from Florida to North Carolina has been fully cooperative and supportive and acknowledged what this team is doing. And they\u2019re doing an incredible job. We\u2019ve got a lot more to do,\u201d Biden noted further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Florida\u2019s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced this week that the former owner of a dog that the Highway Patrol saved as Hurricane Milton hit land has been… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n